I've just decided to start taking photos in RAW as I've been reading about the advantages. I took some shots just to see how my PC would cope and when I upload the photos from my Canon 450D (with the software provided) an error message came up saying I don't have enough memory.

I read somewhere that I could open them in Zoom Browser, save them as a different file (not jpeg) and then open them in PS to edit them.

Now the queestions (!):

1) I have a laptop that I can buy off a friend, very cheap (which has: 2GB of memory, Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor Type T# (1.73 GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 1 MB Cache) and 160 GB of storage). Would this be a good investment solely for using it for internet use and photo editing? Do you think I'd get the same error message as on my PC?

2) If I purchased my friends laptop (I want a laptop anyway..) could I use the Canon software that I installed on my PC or does it only allow you to install it once?

3) Opening RAW files in Zoom Browser, saving them as a different file type, and then editing them properly in PS; would this take away the point of taking RAW shots in the first place?

Sorry it's a long-winded topic! I'm not very good at keeping things brief!

I've just decided to start taking photos in RAW as I've been reading about the advantages. I took some shots just to see how my PC would cope and when I upload the photos from my Canon 450D (with the software provided) an error message came up saying I don't have enough memory.

I read somewhere that I could open them in Zoom Browser, save them as a different file (not jpeg) and then open them in PS to edit them.

Now the queestions (!):

1) I have a laptop that I can buy off a friend, very cheap (which has: 2GB of memory, Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor Type T# (1.73 GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 1 MB Cache) and 160 GB of storage). Would this be a good investment solely for using it for internet use and photo editing? Do you think I'd get the same error message as on my PC? If you are in any doubt why not install the Canon software on that machine and see how well it runs.

2) If I purchased my friends laptop (I want a laptop anyway..) could I use the Canon software that I installed on my PC or does it only allow you to install it once?

3) Opening RAW files in Zoom Browser, saving them as a different file type, and then editing them properly in PS; would this take away the point of taking RAW shots in the first place?

Sorry it's a long-winded topic! I'm not very good at keeping things brief!

My personal take (others may have a different view):

1) The machine is powerful enough. Whether it's a good investment depends on the price as new laptops can be had relatively cheaply these days.

2) I've got the Canon software running on three PCs here. No knocks on the door from FAST so far.

3) I prefer to use DPP rather than ZoomBrowser. It's got some useful features (check out the tutorials here) including batch processing.

.
Well, if you have Photoshop CS3 (or the new CS4) you should be able to open the RAW (CR2) files directly provided you have the latest version of Adobe Camera RAW. Note that Adobe believes you owe it the full price of a version upgrade if you have CS2 as it won't provide the necessary converters for anything earlier than the current version when a new camera comes out.

The only workaround is to use the Adobe DNG Converter standalone software to convert from CR2 to DNG or to use the Canon software to convert to, say, TIFF and then open the DNG or TIFF file in Photoshop.

.Well, if you have Photoshop CS3 (or the new CS4) you should be able to open the RAW (CR2) files directly provided you have the latest version of Adobe Camera RAW. Note that Adobe believes you owe it the full price of a version upgrade if you have CS2 as it won't provide the necessary converters for anything earlier than the current version when a new camera comes out.

The only workaround is to use the Adobe DNG Converter standalone software to convert from CR2 to DNG or to use the Canon software to convert to, say, TIFF and then open the DNG or TIFF file in Photoshop.

Bob.

Do you lose and quailty or editing options if you convert to TIFF and open the file in PS?

...Do you lose and quailty or editing options if you convert to TIFF and open the file in PS?

TIFF, like DNG, is lossless so no information is lost. I plan to upgrade from CS2 to CS4 shortly which will allow me to download from my camera using the EOS Utility software, do preliminary sorting and processing, including lens correction, in DPP and then, for the few images I would want to spend extra time on, open the modified RAW (CR2) files directly into Photoshop.